Cory and Tammy's Wedding Weekend

I’ve been crazy busy every night this week and haven’t had much time to think, let alone blog so I’ll try to catch up to where I am now in a shorter, less detailed recap of my weekend.
Adam and fly to Michigan this past weekend for Cory and Tammy’s wedding. I drove Adam to LaGuardia on Thursday night so he would be home for the rehearsal dinner on Friday and I took the same flight out on Friday night from LaGuardia.
On Saturday morning I got my nails done and then got ready for the wedding. I picked up Carolynne on my way up to Clio since her boyfriend Skippy was already there and in the wedding with Adam. Between the wedding and reception we found a small local bar to kill a couple hours and then I checked into the hotel and headed over to the reception.
The reception was really nice with lots of space and a huge dance floor. It was great to be able to spend some time with all of our friends we hadn’t seen in months (see picture above). Tammy made a gorgeous bride and I know Cory will be much happier now that Tammy will be in Virginia with him.

On Sunday we checked out of the hotel early so I could get home to get ready for Emily’s bridal shower that afternoon. After rushing home and quickly getting ready I was back on the road again, this time to Howell for the shower.
Emily’s mom did a great job with the “green and white” theme, even serving only green and white colored food! Emily got some very nice gifts from her friends, family and relatives. My bridesmaid dress had come in earlier in the week so Emily picked it up and brought it to her mother’s house. My mom has barely any altering to do on the dress and will probably just have to sew in some pads in the chest.
We took the first flight out of Detroit on Monday morning and after a non-stop weekend it felt great to be home except we had to quickly get ready and go to work. Since Monday this week has been non-stop for me and I’m looking forward to laying in bed tonight and watching Grey’s Anatomy.
This weekend Adam and I will be heading to Rochester, NY to spend the weekend with his parents. We have a beer fest scheduled for Saturday and hopefully we can squeeze in a dinner at Ricky’s or Agatina’s. This will be the first time that I’ll be flying to Rochester, which is going to be so much nicer than the 6 hour drive.
Thank god it’s almost Friday… I cannot wait for the weekend!

Mom's Visit

Mom’s visit to NJ this weekend flew by!!! On Friday night Adam and I met my mom and Sue at the Sheraton hotel in Mahwah. We ate dinner at the Allendale Bar and Grille, and then dropped them back at the hotel to get some rest. On Saturday we drove to Mendham to meet up with Cindy. Cindy took us to downtown Chester, NJ where we walked in and out of small craft/antique shops. We went to a restaurant called Sally Lunn’s for lunch, which was soooo good. It’s a small English tea restaurant where you can order hot tea by the pot. I had their cottage pie (shepard’s pie) which came with a side salad, my mom had the chicken pot pie, Sue had a seafood sandwich and Cindy had the portobello and mushroom quiche. Despite its dainty appearance, the portions were quite large and they had a huge assortment of homemade deserts and scones. I definitely want to go back soon. On our way back from Chester we stopped at an apple picking farm to pick up some Apple Cider and donuts.
That evening Adam, Sue, my mom and I went shopping. I found a dress for the Cory and Tammy’s wedding this weekend and my mom found some “souvenirs” for my sister (god forbid my mom go home without something for Ashley). Still full from lunch we didn’t start thinking about dinner until almost 9:00pm when we left the mall. We were exhausted and couldn’t think of a good place that would still be open at such an hour, so we headed over to the local diner and had surprisingly good food.
Our original plan for Sunday was to head into the city as early as possible to get discount tickets for a matinee play/musical. Our plans quickly changed on Saturday night when I started freaking out about the girls bake sale on Tuesday. I wanted to spend time with my mom and Sue, but I had so much baking to do between Sunday-Monday night and absolutely no time to do it. We decided to bake all day on Sunday instead of going into the city. I’m sure a day in the city would have been more fun, but after baking 4 things of brownies, 6 dozen cupcakes and hundreds of cookies, it was a smart decision because I would have NEVER been able to do it all on my own!
Kendra drove out from Long Island to help with the baking, and after our work was done, we all went for dinner at a local Italian restaurant. The food was so good and it felt like the perfect ending to a great weekend and a long day of baking.
It’s was so nice to have my mom around for the weekend, and after a year of being apart it’s still so hard to say goodbye.

Mom!

My mom is coming to visit this weekend and considering I haven't seen her since May, I'm pretty geeked!!! She's currently in Boston with her friend Sue taking Sue's son, Johnny's belongings back to Harvard for his Fall semester. They arrived on Wednesday and will be on their way to NJ after stopping at the Culinary Institute of America and possibly the Outlets in New York.
We have quite the weekend planned with trips to dinner tonight in Allendale, an afternoon girls trip to Chester, NJ on Saturday and New York City to see a play on Sunday and even Kendra is making the trip into the city to see my mom!!
Because of the shore house this summer Adam and I's trips "home" have been limited. Next weekend we're going to back Detroit for a wedding and the following weekend we're flying to Rochester to visit his parents. The month of September sure is filled with lots of quality family time and I can't wait!!!
*Pick above is from the last time I saw my mom at Aaron's graduation party in May*

Little Miss Sunshine

I went to see Little Miss Sunshine yesterday and highly recommend it. If you think that your family may be a bit dysfunctional, I’m sure this movie will change your opinion. It’s a story about a mom, dad, 2 children, a grandfather and an uncle, all with their own problems. It made me cry from laughter and cry from sadness.
Its definitely a very heartwarming story of a family that sticks together and stands by each other when they need each other most.

The Unofficial End of Summer

This past weekend was probably one of the best of summer. Emily flew in on Thursday night to celebrate Labor Day with Adam and I. On Friday, after working only a half day, I took Emily into NYC. She’d never been before and fitting in everything before our legs gave out and it started to rain was pretty hard. We started down in the Financial District checking out the Statue of Liberty, World Trade Center, etc. We then walked up to Canal St. where Emily bought a necklace, a watch, 6 t-shirts for $10.00 and 2 Kate Spade pocketbooks. I picked up 3 pairs of Chanel earrings for Cindy and 1 pair for myself along with a new “fidget” ring. After Canal St. we took the subway up to 57th Street and walked through Central Park all the way up to 83rd. We ate at High-Life for dinner, and then took a cab down to Times Square to hit up Rockefeller, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Empire State Building, Radio City Music Hall, etc. By 10:00pm we were spent, both financial and physically so we decided to save any of the other sites until the next time she visits.
On Saturday morning Kendra met us at our apartment and we all drove down the shore together to meet up with Adam and everyone else. Our party was scheduled for Saturday, but luckily we had a rain date of Sunday due to Tropical Storm Ernesto. When we arrived Adam, Jim and Walt wanted to go to the beach to check out the waves and crazy weather. Emily, Kendra and I quickly threw on some garbage bags as make-shift raincoats and tagged along. The wind blew the sand all over, stinging the back of our legs, face, and arms. Adam took a couple photos from on the beach, while Kendra, Emily and I took cover behind the bathrooms trying to avoid the stinging sand. Since we were already out we decided to make the short walk over to Leggett’s to catch the MSU football game. When we walked in we quickly shed our “raincoats” and ran to the bathroom to rinse our face and pick sand out of our nappy, tangled and matted hair. After our quick fresh-up we returned to the table to cold beers and pizza. I had never been to Leggett’s on a Saturday afternoon but there was Bingo and a lot more people than I expected, especially with Ernesto’s furry luring outside the door.
Later than evening Rachel and her friend Deanna came down to hang out, while we ordered Chinese food (the streets were flooded and they were the only place delivering). We didn’t make it to the bar that night, but went to bed praying for better weather the next day. With the rain still pouring down at midnight, it didn’t look too promising.
To our surprise we awoke to sunny skies on Sunday and made our way down to the beach. The sand was still damp from the downpours earlier in the day, and the waves were still massive, therefore the beach was much emptier than usual. Luckily we were still able to soak up some sun before our party. It was so nice to sit back and relax as Mike bought and picked up food while Adam and Walt got the keg. Guests started arriving for the party at 4:00pm and we had a pretty good crowd for a good portion of the night.
Our annual Labor Day party marked the un-official end of summer. We’ll be heading down the shore this weekend to eat the rest of the food left in the fridge and attempt to put 211 Third Ave. back to one piece. Just thinking about leaving makes me want to cry. I came to NJ just 1 year and a summer ago with Adam as my only friend and walked away with new friends (despite their constant efforts to tease and pick on me) and a lease for 211 Third Avenue, Manasquan for another summer. It’s hard to believe that the summer is over and I’ll have to say goodbye to a place that brought me such good memories.

I'll miss you 211 Third Ave.